1. General PTA Meeting
August 14, 2013
5:30 p.m.

2. Common Core Resources for Parents

3. ELA/Literacy Shifts
Balancing Informational & Literacy Texts: Passages will be authentic and balanced across informational and literary
Knowledge in the Content Areas: Assessment will contain knowledge-based questions about the informational text; students will not need outside knowledge to respond
Grade-level Text Complexity: Passage selection will be based on text complexity that is appropriate to grade level per Common Core
Text-based Answers & Writing from Sources: Questions will require students to marshal evidence from the text, including from paired passages
Academic Vocabulary: Students will be tested directly on the meaning of pivotal, common terms from which the definition can be discerned from the text. Academic vocabulary will also be tested indirectly through general comprehension of the text.

4. Distribution of Literary and Informational Passages
Grade
Literary
Informational 4
50% 8
45%
55% 12
30%
70%

5. Math Shifts
Focus: Priority standards will be the focus of the assessments. Other standards will be deemphasized.
Coherence: Assessments will reflect the progression of content and concepts as depicted in the standards across grade levels.
Fluency: It will be assumed that students possess the required fluencies as articulated through grade 8; as such, there will be no calculators in early grades.
Deep understanding: Each standard will be assessed from multiples perspectives while not veering from the primary target of measurement for the standards.
Application and Dual Intensity: Students will be expected to know grade-level math content with fluency and to know which math concepts to employ to solve real-world math problems.

6. Common Core Sample Assessment Items
Fourth Grade Samples

29. Web Resources to Support Common Core State Standards

32. Academic Performance Index

33. Adequate Yearly Progress

34. Communication